Great post Mark....I have to agree with those that said coaching and not facilities are the reason for successful clubs. Just look at Summerville....Clark Brisson was brought on 3 years ago and the coaching staff he's assembled has proven successes....the U11, U13, and U14 boys teams are all very competitive and will certainly be top teams at cup time. The 13's and 14's are drawing players from all over the state including Myrtle Beach. They are competing in top tournaments (Jefferson Cup, Germantown Invitational, CASL, Virginia Beach Columbus Cup)against teams that can draw up to 300 kids for tryouts (CASL, Richmond, Potomac etc). In the spring the then 13's lost in the final to the SGU Santos and now have beaten them twice in the fall season. The current 13's are two time state cup champions and I expect they will be right there again this year. The U11's, made up for 10's and 11's have easily won many of their tournaments, frequently playing in the U12 divisions. I believe that if you have a successful team, players will come.
Players will also follow their coach - case in point: MPSC U15 girls followed their coach to SSC (I think one did not), Paul Conway's U15 girls have followed him from SSC, to Carolina Girls and now, I understand to MPSC.
I seem to remember too...Wando, Bishop England and Porter Gaud boys and West Ashley girls all winning the high school state championships this past spring. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
I think there are hotbeds of good soccer all over the state - what needs to happen is that we all start supporting one another instead of arguing who is best. I don't see any mega clubs popping up anytime soon - there are too many egos out there (as someone else pointed out). We can theorize all we want and come up with statistics to support just about any opinion (How to Lie with Statistics - great read!).
Players and parents are smart - they know where to go.
Soccermom
